Photo by Felix Leander
My father passed away over three years ago. I never wrote anything about it — — but a few years prior I published an article about him in Hawaii Skin Diver magazine. He could not dive anymore, it was about the same time he could not dive anymore due to his physical state. It felt like the right time to write about it then…
Last of the Mohicans
Every generation has them — a small group of trail blazers that did something different, adventurous and too many people “crazy”. Over time, as they age, they and their ways become less and less understood — a new generation, thinking they know how to do it better, steps in their place but does not replace them. Hopefully the rookies are inspired and motivated by the old-timers. The underwater photography / diving world is no different.
Wolfgang Leander was born in 1941 landlocked Bolivia. His introduction to the sea started at a very early age, his father, Wolfgang Leander Sr. read him stories about helmet divers fighting large octopuses and took him on family vacations to the beaches of Chile where he for the first time with all his sense interacted with the ocean.
Around the same time, Hans Haas was revolutionizing the dive / underwater film and photography world. Haas was an avid spear fisherman whose innovations between 1938 and 1983 in dive technology contributed to U/W cameras and housing, rebreathers, fins, etc. He also produced over 25 books, countless TV films, and a few movies. His most famous book, published in 1941, Unter Korallen und Haien (Among corals and sharks), sparked the fire in Wolfgang that has lasted over 70 years. Hans Haas was Wolfgang’s hero.
When Wolfgang moved back to Europe as a teenager, summer vacations were spent in many Mediterranean spots getting as much water time as possible. When he started freediving in 1955 (Cote d’Azur at 14 years old) several things we take for granted now where not around then such as masks that allowed to equalize (those were not invited until 1959 and were life changing) and freediving fins to name a few. Getting to dive spots was also a challenge — while today boats have become very accessible, Wolfgang would sometimes walk four hours to access a dive spot.
As Wolfgang’s passion for the ocean was forming, another was developing — the two eventually would go hand-in-hand. He would purchase his first camera at the age of 13, a Kodak Baby Brownie, an extremely rudimentary and primitive piece of equipment — imagine a black square with a small sense in the front, When he turned 16 (and after washing a lot of cars) he would upgrade to his first Leica, a used III f in 1957, which he still has and considers one of the best 35mm camera ever built. Nowadays, Wolfgang has a nice collection of Leica’s, most of them M models (M5, M6, M7, MP, and a M9 (digital — which he never uses).
The Nikons I (Calypso) was brought to market in 1963 and in 1965 Wolfgang purchased his first U/W camera, eventually he would go through the III, IV, and V variations, the V is the model he still uses for all his shark photography today. The camera is extremely simple, sturdy and was always a 35mm — Nikonos has never produced a digital camera. Wolfgang almost exclusively shoots in B+W.
“B+W photography is, to me, the best way of capturing a moment artistically, even if it is not decisive in terms of conveying a strong message. When you reduce an image to black, grey and white tones, you have to emphasize on composition and graphic impact much more than with a color photograph. My preference for B+W has also a nostalgic component. The first underwater pictures I saw in the mid and late forties, when I was a little kid, were all B+W. The strong impression those images left on me never faded.”
Like most diving at the time, the hunt is what got Wolfgang in the water. In the 50s and 60s, the Mediterranean Sea was full of life — large groupers were abundant and favorite on the spearing list. You know someone has been diving a long time when they can tell you spearo stories from dive locations in Spain or Italy. Between 1956 and 1968 Wolfgang spent his late adolescence and early 20s diving the Mediterranean. While living in Germany, he fell into a depression, a doctor recommended he leave the grey and cold weather — so Wolfgang moved to Puerto Rico in 1968 — his depression would fade.
It was in Puerto Rico that Wolfgang would encounter his first shark, He was finishing a dive with fish tied to his weight belt (something you did not have to worry about in the Mediterranean) when he turned around — his reaction must have been so violent when he saw the bull shark, that the fish also got scared and bolted the other direction. The next two years were spent diving the Virgin Islands (they really were still virgin then) and Puerto Rico.
In the early 70s, he moved back to Europe and between 1970–1973 dove in Spain and Greece…as chance would have it and a small job posting for a banking position, Wolfgang would end up in the Bahamas. Up until then, he had spearfished only with guns, (spear guns were and are not allowed in the Bahamas) it would be the last time he would use these — instead he began to hone his Hawaiian sling skills. Within a few months, he was only “braining” or “brain’em” (as the Bahamians say it) all his fish.
The Bahamas are special to Wolfgang, he lived in Nassau for six years, married and his son was born in Princess Margaret Hospital. It was also in the Bahamas that his love affair with sharks would begin and last for the rest of his life.
Whenever he could not hunt, the camera became his shooting tool. Wolfgang even shot film — “for a while I also filmed, above and underwater with a 8mm movie camera made by Braun. But I went back to still photography which is my true passion. It is only with still photography that you can freeze an image at the decisive moment, and document a subject for “eternity”, as it were.” Between 1981 and 1997, he would not be back to the Bahamas — but when he did, his passions, sharks, photography, and freediving came full circle.
From then on Wolfgang spent countless hours in the waters of South Africa, The Bahamas, and Galapagos photographing different species of sharks. His all-time favorite subjects are Tiger Sharks and over the last years their habit became his primary destinations. But it was not just all about the photography — the more he interacted with sharks, the more he cared about them.
Much of his energy was put into the conservation of sharks — from big campaigns like getting Alibaba to stop selling shark fins to “convincing” shark operators in South Africa to change their baiting methods to avoid harming sharks. Wolfgang would make a lot of friends and enemies — his moral compass always faces North and does not bend. You either love Wolfgang or hate him — there is no in-between. Usually the ones that do not like him are the ones that have been called out for their true agendas (where sharks were just a means to an end — which is usually fame or money).
“While I was rather active in shark conservation a few years ago, age, poor health, and the conviction that an individual like me, without any outside support, let alone some sponsorship from a large organization, has now very limited chances to be heard, and thus make a difference. I am, however, extremely pleased to see that there is a palpable world-wide increase of public awareness of the deplorable plight of the sharks, and that it is crucial to protect not only them but also marine life in general. There are many wonderful and committed people, young and middle-aged, out there who are relentless in contributing to save the oceans from irreversible destruction. The success of their efforts is truly remarkable and inspirational.”
What has kept Wolfgang true to his conviction is the fact that his photography was always a hobby and his love for sharks is real. He never made a profit or wanted fame (to be on an episode of Shark Week like so many). And while many photographers are protective and competitive — Wolfgang has always enjoyed mentoring and promoting the younger generation of photographers — after all, how many photographers feature and praise other photographers (even on their own website / blog). He used to carry a small album with shark photos with him, not to show to others, but so that he could relive the moments he spent with sharks for himself. He had to be convinced to share his work through website (2003) and blog (2006) — which he used promote shark conservation.
“I do photography as a hobby. Anyone who wants to use my shark photographs for a worthy purpose can have them as long as I get the credit as the photographer — every serious photographer has at least a grain of some sort of conceit…A few of my photographs have appeared in dive magazines, newspapers, and books — always free of charge. It is more important to me to make my pics available to broad audiences internationally than to make money with them.”
Some may think it is old fashioned or stubbornness — but for Wolfgang digital photography has never been an option.
“I will never switch to a digital underwater camera because I prefer to be restricted 36 images, and having to focus on each frame, rather than shooting indiscriminately, and then just choose the best shot that has been taken accidentally by keeping the shutter squeezed. I could not take a photograph with extending my arms to get closer to the subject which is how photographs are now commonly taken. I need the connection between the viewfinder and my eye. My camera has to be a natural extension of my eye. I am just so used to it. At he same time I realize that these are almost anachronistic views, but then again, I am a living fossil, what can I do…”
That same stubbornness and passion/drive to be in the water with sharks is likely one of the reasons he has survived three cancers — one of which the Drs had given him only a 20% chance of survival. Unfortunately the last cancer (stage four stomach which had to be completely removed) hit Wolfgang hard. While in the recent past, he would spend nine hours straight in the water — the time now is reduced to a couple of hours. However, he still freedives with sharks with his old faithful (Nikonos V) around his neck. He is a tough SOB.
I do not know of any other 70+ year old freediving, three time cancer surviving, 35MM B+W shark photographers — Wolfgang is one of the few of the first diving generation that is left — he is the last of the mohicans. I can only hope the art will remain alive and that someone will pick-up a Nikons V.
So here is to the generations before us — that have always done it better with less and forged the path for us to follow…much respect.
Note: Wolfgang said this would be his last article that he would want to take part in — what better publication than HSD. He is impressed by the high quality of the magazine and particularly the photography and contributing photographers. Visit his website and blog at www.oceanicdreams.com
It has been a privilege diving with my old man, seeing how interacts with sharks, and people that he has impacted through his photography and conservation efforts. Most importantly, I have seen someone that remained true to his words, actions, and the old freediving tribe.